THE RETURN OF ABIGAIL WILLIAMS
Abigail Williams, very possibly the only American black metal band that’ve released any material worth a damn this year, have posted a new song, entitled “VII Empyrean Into the cold Wastes,” on their MySpace page. It’s an okay song, but until the last minute or so, lacks the epic, symphonic edge that made the bands debut EP, Legends, so impressive. Also, as if the title of the song wasn’t pretentious enough, singer Ken Sorceron is now credited on the page with “vocals/songwriting,” and while he may be very well be the driving creative force behind the band, I feel like that’s something you’re supposed to let people find out on their own – in other words, show a little modesty, bro-bro.
Beyond that, the band’s old line-up seems relatively intact from their split earlier this year – guitarists Bjorn Dannov and Mike Wilson and drummer Zach Gibson are still on-board, at least. And, on a totally superficial and unprofessional level, I’m not sure how I feel about cutie keyboardist Ellyllon being replaced with heavily tattooed and piereced cutie counterpart Kristen Randall; not that I don’t appreciate this being an equal-opportunity metal band, but part of me wonders if replacing one hot chick with another isn’t just a kinda cynical ploy to lure horny teenage listeners. Then again, maybe it’s just cynical of me to assume that Randall wasn’t hired because she really is the right person for the job; maybe the fact that both she and Ellyllon both happen to be attractive young women is just a coinky-dink (And, yes, I just typed “coinky-dink.” Blow me.).
ANYWAY, the page also says that the band is in pre-pro for their first full-length, which I have to imagine will be released in ’08, after they complete their current US tour with Vader, Malevolent Creation, Cattle Decapitation, and some other deathcore bands I could give a shit about. I liked Legends enough that I’m still willing to give this band the benefit of the doubt, so we’ll adopt a “wait and see” attitude on this one.
-AR
